)  M 


■1^^  (Wlmomf  ^it>)ic^0 

IN    HONOR   OF 

Rs.  Mary  Hemenway 

BY    THE 

Boston  Public  School  Teachers 


GIFT  OF 

SEEI.EY  W.  MUDD 

and 

GEORGE  I.  COCHRAN     MEYER  ELSASSER 

DR.JOHN  K.  HAYNKS    WILLIAM  L.  HONNOLD 

JAMtS  R.  MARTIN         MRS.  JOSEPH  F.  SARTORI 

re  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

SOUTHERN  BRANCH 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


ronor   of  ^'-^s 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 


Form  L   I 


Memorial  :f>crbicc.!^ 


IN    HONOR  OF 


MRS.    MARY'HEMENWAY 


BY   THE 


BOSTON    PUBLIC   SCHOOL   TEACHERS 


EDITKD    BY 

LARKIN   DUNTON,  LL.D., 

HBAD    MASTER   OF    THE    BOSTON    NORMAL  SCHOOL 


BOSTON 

Geo.  H.  Ellis,  Printer,  141  Franklin  Street 

1894 


S8()S1 


INTRODUCTION. 


Memorial  services  in  honor  of  Mrs.   Mary  Hemen- 

way  were    held    in    the  Old   South    Meeting-House 

Wednesday  afternoon,  May  2,  1894,  by  the  teachers 

of  the    public    schools    of   Boston.     These    services 

were  the  result  of  a  spontaneous  desire  on  the  part 

of  the  teachers  to  give  expression  to  the  love  and 

esteem  which  they  bore  for  her  while  living. 

c^         Mrs.   Hemenway  was   born    in    the  city    of    New 

^    York,  Dec.  20,  1S20,  and  died  at  her  home  in  Bos- 

o    ton,    March   6,    1894.      She    was    the    daughter   of 

'rr    Thomas   Tileston,  from    whom   she   seems  to    have 

'H 

i-    inherited    her    remarkable    business    ability.      She 

married  Mr.  Augustus  Hemenway,  a  great  shipping 

merchant.     Several  years  before  his  death  his  health 

had  so  failed  as  to  throw  much  of  the  oversight  of 

his    immense  business   upon   Mrs.    Hemenway.     By 

this  means  was  developed  that  remarkable  talent  for 

the  directing  of   affairs  which   subsequently  proved 


4  Introduction 

so  useful  in  carrying  on  her  great  benevolent  enter- 
prises. She  certainly  possessed  business  ability  of 
a  high  order. 

Ilcr  insight  into  the  causes  of  suffering  among 
the  people,  far  and  near,  present  and  fut-ure,  and 
into  the  remedies  for  this  suffering,  was  wonder- 
ful. Ilcr  breadth  of  view  was  only  equalled  by  the 
warmth  of  her  heart.  It  was  the  generosity  of  her 
nature  that  so  endeared  her  to  the  teachers  of  Bos- 
ton. They  came  to  know  her  as  a  fellow-worker  for 
the  good  of  the  people.  Pride,  haughtiness,  and  con- 
descension, which  too  often  accompany  the  posses- 
sion and  even  the  distribution  of  wealth,  were  so 
conspicuously  wanting  in  her  nature  that  every 
teacher  who  was  brought  into  contact  with  her  in 
her  benevolent  work  felt  only  the  presence  of  a 
great  heart  beating  in  sympathy  with  all  mankind. 

Her  beneficent  plans  were  never  set  on  foot,  and 
then  left  to  the  management  of  others.  She  not 
only  followed  her  work  with  her  thought  and  her 
kindly  interest,  but  she  stimulated  and  cheered  her 
coworkers  with  her  inspiring  personality.  It  was 
her  clear  head,  her  warm  heart,  and  her  cheerful 
presence  that  gained  for  her  admiration  and  affec- 


hitrodiiction  .  5 

tion.  In  a  word,  it  was  her  noble  nature  that  so 
won  the  Boston  teachers  as  to  call  them  together 
to  speak  and  hear  the  words  recorded  in  the  follow- 
ing pages. 

The  order  of  exercises  will  be  found  in  full  on  the 

following  page. 

The   Editor. 


ORDER  OF   EXERCISES. 


Chant,  The  Lord's  Prayer. 

Introductokv    Remarks   by   the    Chairman.   Edwin    P. 
Seaver,  Superintendent  of  Public  Scliools. 

Reading    of     Resolutions    by     Robert    Swan,    Master, 
Winthrop  School. 

Address  by    Henry  C.  Hardon,  Master,  Shurtleff  School. 

Address  by  Granville  Putnam,  Master,  Franklin  School. 

Address  by  Edwin  P.  Seaver, 

Singing,  "America,"  Director,  Henry  G.  Carey. 

Address  by  James  A.  Page,  Master,  Dwight  School. 

Address   by    Dr.    Larkin    Dunton,  Head   Master,  Boston 
Normal  School. 

Address  by  John   O.   Norris,   Head   Master,   Charlestown 
High  School. 


INTRODUCTORY   REMARKS 

By  the  Chairman 


Fellow-tcacJicrs : 

We  have  called  ourselves  together  to-day,  not 
merely  to  express  a  sense  of  personal  bereavement, 
nor  yet  merely  to  lament  the  public  loss  consequent 
upon  the  ending  of  a  life  of  singular  devotion  and 
helpfulness,  but  chiefly,  with  hearts  full  of  gratitude 
that  such  a  life  has  been  lived  among  us  and  that 
we  have  been  permitted  to  have  some  share  in 
executing  its  beneficent  purposes,  to  commemorate 
those  deeds  of  wise  charity  which  have  come  more 
immediately  under  our  personal  observation. 

It  would  seem  to  have  been  a  settled  principle 
with  Mrs.  Hemenway  that  the  wisest  charity  is  that 
which  prevents  misery  rather  than  waits  to  alleviate 
it,  which  purifies  the  sources  of  domestic  and  civic 
life  rather  than  seeks,  too  late,  to  clear  it  of  accu- 


JO  Me^norial  Seiince 

mulated  ills.  Hence  was  her  charity  applied  largely 
in  the  domain  of  education.  She  rested  her  hopes 
for  the  future  domestic  and  civic  well-being  of  the 
people  on  the  children.  These  — and  particularly 
the  less  favored  ones  —  should  receive  generous  and 
wholesome  training  for  their  coming  duties  in  family 
and  in  State. 

If  e.xisting  educational  agencies  were  inadequate 
or  imperfect,  her  aid  was  ever  ready  for  the  work  of 
enlargement  and  improvement.  Believing  that  the 
ordinary  conditions  of  school  work  were  physically 
injurious  to  children,  she  introduced  into  our  city, 
and  through  a  practical  demonstration  of  its  benefits 
persuaded  the  school  authorities  to  adopt,  a  sys- 
tem of  physical  training  which  will  do  much  —  nay, 
which  has  already  done  much  —  to  give  the  next 
generation  stronger  and  healthier  bodies.  Seeing 
that  the  arts  which  promote  thrift,  comfort,  and  hap- 
piness in  the  home  were  falling  into  neglect  among 
the  people,  she  sought,  through  the  introduction  of 
sewing  and  cooking  as  matters  of  instruction  in  the 
public  schools,  to  promote  more  sensible  views  on 
the  importance  of  domestic  education.  Realizing 
the  vital  necessity  of  a  pure,  ardent,  and  intelligent 


Mrs.  Mary  Hemenway  il 

patriotism  in  the  hearts  of  all  the  people,  she  insti- 
tuted within  these  historic  walls  —  hallowed  by  sa- 
cred associations  of  religion  and  freedom  —  courses 
of  instruction  for  young  people  in  history  and  civil 
polity  which  have  done  and  are  doing  much  to 
awaken  and  cherish  the  best  patriotic  sentiment. 
In  these  and  in  many  other  ways  has  she  aided  the 
teachers  in  the  great  work  of  public  instruction. 
Even  where  her  beneficence  appeared  to  assume  a 
more  personal  relation, —  as  when  she  aided  the 
Teachers'  Benefit  Association  or  when  she  helped 
many  a  weary  teacher  to  get  needed  rest  and  recu- 
peration,—  her  warm  sympathy  with  the  workers 
was  the  outflowing  of  her  deep  interest  in  their  work. 

So  it  is  altogether  fitting  that  we,  the  teachers 
of  the  public  schools  of  Boston,  should  place  upon 
record  an  expression  of  our  appreciation  of  Mrs. 
Hemenvvay's  educational  work. 

And  let  it  be  said  at  the  outset  that  the  crowning 
excellence  of  that  work  is  not  found  in  the  large 
gifts  of  money,  useful  as  these  have  been,  nor  in 
the  support  accorded  to  new  enterprises  and  experi- 
ments in  education  when  these  had  not  yet  estab- 
lished their  claims  to  public  support ;  but  it  is  found 


12  Memorial  Service 

in  her  most  generous  giving  of  herself  to  every 
beneficent  scheme  she  undertook, —  her  untiring 
sympathy  and  care,  her  wise,  far-seeing  counsel,  and 
her  frequent  inspiring  personal  presence.  It  may 
be  remembered  now,  as  a  significant  instance  of  this, 
that  her  very  last  appearance  in  public  was  in  this 
meeting-house  with  the  young  people  celebrating 
the  birthday  of  Washington.  Nothing  less  strong 
than  the  Life  Destroyer  himself  could  overcome  her 
interested  activity  in  these  things. 

Thus  in  briefest  outline  have  I  mentioned  the 
matters  for  commemoration.  It  remains  for  me  to 
call  upon  representative  teachers,  who  will  speak 
more  in  detail  on  each  particular. 


RESOLUTIONS 

PRESENTED   BY 

ROBERT  SWAN 

0\4aster  of  the  IVinthrop  School 


Resolutions  presented  by  Robert  Swan 


On  account  of  my  long  association  with  Mrs. 
Hemenway  in  her  efforts  to  give  the  girls  in  the 
Boston  public  schools  useful  instruction,  it  has  been 
assigned  to  me  to  prepare  resolutions  of  respect  for 
her  memory. 

The  following  are  submitted  for  your  considera- 
tion :  — 

Whereas,  it  is  fitting,  at  the  close  of  Mrs.  Mary  Hemen- 
way's  useful  life,  that  the  Boston  public  school  teachers, 
assembled  in  the  Old  South  Meeting-house,  which  she  loved 
so  well  and  did  so  much  to  save,  should  place  on  record  their 
profound  appreciation  of  the  noble  work  she  has  accomplished 
for  the /r^rZ/Va/ education  of  the  children  under  their  care,  by 
which  the  pupils,  and  through  them  the  homes  from  which 
many  of  them  come,  have  been  elevated  both  mentally  and 
morally, —  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  through  her  wise  foresight  and  long  per- 
severance in  the  introduction  of  a  systematic  training  in  sew- 
ing, by  which  girls  in  the  public  schools  are  made  proficient  in 


1 6  Memorial  Service 

needlework,  the  first  step  toward  manual  training,  now  ac- 
knowledged by  all  to  be  an  essential  part  of  our  school  pro- 
gramme, she  exhibited  an  almost  intuitive  sense  of  the  needs 
of  the  community,  and  enabled  the  children  to  relieve  their 
mothers  of  many  weary  hours  of  labor. 

Resolved,  Tliat  by  the  introduction  of  the  Kitchen  Garden, 
and,  later,  the  School  Kitchen,— a  long  step  in  progress, —  she 
accomplished,  by  this  wise  provision  of  her  studious  care,  an 
inestimable  benefit  to  the  city,  children  being  thus  taught  not 
only  to  cook  intelligently  and  economically,  but  also  to  buy 
understandingly,  the  various  articles  required,  by  which  the 
manner  of  living  has  been  changed,  healthful  food  and  proper 
service  displacing  uncomfortable  and  unhealthful  methods. 

Resolved,  That  by  the  introduction  of  the  Ling  System  of 
Gymnastics,  in  which  Mrs.  Hemenway's  liberality  and  care  for 
the  physical  development  of  the  children  were  the  principal 
factors,  the  city  is  greatly  indebted  for  another  advance  in 
education. 

Resolved,  That  by  the  establishment  of  the  "  Normal  School 
of  Cooking  "  and  the  "  Boston  Normal  School  of  Gymnastics," 
furnishing  qualified  teachers  to  inaugurate  the  work  in  other 
cities,  by  which  the  full  advantage  of  Boston's  experience  is 
reaped,  her  beneficial  influence  has  made  instruction  in  these 
branches  national  instead  of  local. 

Resolved,  That  by  her  contribution  in  money  and  intelligent 
helpfulness  in  promoting  the  Boston  Teachers'  Mutual  Benefit 
Association  in  the  days  of  its  inception,  much  was  done  to  in- 
sure the  success  of  the  enterprise. 


Mrs.  Mary  Honenway  17 

Resolved,  That  by  the  purchase  of  Dr.  John  D.  Philbrick's 
library,  and  its  presentation  to  the  Boston  Normal  School,  she 
has  made  easily  accessible  to  the  pupils  the  choicest  works  on 
educational  subjects,  thus  making  the  valuable  information 
acquired  a  part  of  their  equipment  for  their  chosen  profession. 

Resolved,  That  by  her  prizes  for  essays  on  subjects  con- 
nected with  American  History,  awarded  to  graduates  of  the 
Boston  High  Schools,  on  Washington's  Birthday,  in  the  Old 
South  Meeting-house,  she  has  caused  a  thorough  research 
into  our  colonial  and  national  life  that  can  result  only  in  in- 
spiring patriotic  ardor  which  must  conduce  to  the  best  citizen- 
ship. 

Resolved,  That,  by  these  and  many  other  acts  which  cannot 
be  enumerated  at  this  time,  her  name  is  justly  entitled  to  rank 
with  the  names  of  Pratt  and  Drexel,  who  have  established 
institutes  in  Brooklyn  and  Philadelphia  that  will  confer  incal- 
culable benefits  on  the  people  of  this  country. 

Resolved,  That  Mrs.  Hemenway,  in  these  varied  interests, 
gave  what  is  infinitely  more  important  than  money,  her  con- 
stant sympathy  in,  and  enthusiasm  for,  the  work, —  which  is  an 
invaluable  memory  to  all  who  were  blessed  with  her  assistance. 

Resolved,  That,  in  tendering  these  resolutions  to  the  family 
of  Mrs.  Hemenway,  we  desire  to  express  our  deep  sympathy 
in  their  bereavement. 

At  the  close  of  the  services  the  foregoing  resolu- 
tions were  unanimously  adopted. 


ADDRESS 


HENRY  C.  HARDON 

{Master  of  the  Sburtleff  School 


Address  by  Henry  C.  Hardon 


It  is  probable  that  every  one  in  this  audience 
acquainted  with  the  work  and  character  of  Mrs. 
Hemenway  would  be  glad  to  second  the  resolutions 
offered. 

What  a  life  of  benevolent  work !  She  had  wealth, 
and  we  know  some  of  the  ways  she  chose  to  use  it. 
An  excellent  understanding  and  a  most  sensible  edu- 
cation made  an  outfit  for  most  effective  action.  The 
results  are  already  far-reaching,  and  are  to  add  still 
farther  to  our  appreciation  of  the  value  of  her  life. 

Within  four  years  this  most  worthy  lady  said  to 
me  :  "In  my  youth  girls  in  the  best  of  families  were 
accustomed  to  participate  in  many  of  the  household 
affairs.  Some  occasionally  assisted  in  other  homes. 
If  we  were  to  have  evening  company,  the  little  col- 
lation was  prepared  by  our  own  hands."  "As  for 
myself,"  she  said  again,  "  I  read  not  many  books. 
They  were  not  so  numerous  as  now.     I  was  reared 


22  Memorial  Service 

principally  on  household  duties,  the  Bible,  and 
Shakspere." 

What  other  educational  tripod  has  such  breadth 
of  base  ?  Health,  increase  of  physical  strength,  and 
not  a  little  important  directing  power  are  all  pro- 
moted by  the  first ;  and  only  few  persons  propose  to 
better  the  second  as  a  means  of  moral  and  spiritual 
training  for  this  world  or  any  other.  The  third, 
with  its  vocabulary  of  thirteen  thousand  words,  the 
vigor  of  its  dealing  with  folly  and  vice,  its  English 
never  excelled, —  how  all  these  must  have  fed  the 
growing  thought  and  purpose  of  this  character,  one 
of  the  worthiest  of  this  great  city !  Here  was  edu- 
cation, indeed!  A  few  subjects,  it  is  true,  but  well 
chosen  and  greatly  utilized. 

To  one  thus  furnished,  whose  business  in  life  was 
to  be  and  to  do,  and  to  pay  no  attention  to  seeming, 
how  strange  must  have  appeared  the  fact  of  a  later 
growing  disinclination  or  inability  on  the  part  of  so 
many  families  to  minister  to  the  equipment  of  girls, 
after  the  fashion  of  a  former  time  !  This  must  have 
appeared  doubly  strange,  with  an  increasing  incom- 
ing population  of  so  many  from  abroad,  adding  to 
clumsy   fingers   and   unmanaged   households.      The 


Mrs.  Mary  Heniemvay  23 

end  of  all  that  is  not  yet.  The  beginning  of  that 
which,  if  prosecuted,  will  make  toward  an  end,  is 
under  way.  It  is  the  reformed  educational  concep- 
tion —  a  sort  of  renaissance  of  common  sense  for  the 
new  conditions — which  is  to  give  children  in  the 
present  enormous  population  of  city  life  as  much  as 
we  can  for  what  they  have  lost.  Mrs.  Hemenway 
saw  the  situation,  doubtless,  as  distinctly  as  she  did 
the  truth  of  the  proverbs  of  the  Great  Book.  She 
had  the  lasting  benevolence  to  go  deep  and  often  to 
her  pocket  to  pay  the  salaries  of  well-trained  sewing 
teachers,  that  poor  girls  might  get  some  of  the 
training  that  many  homes  were  ceasing  to  furnish. 

We  will  not  forget  that  this  kind  of  training  was 
added  to  school  work  by  the  School  Committee 
before  this.  Nearly  four  thousand  women  had  peti- 
tioned for  it,  but  the  results  were  small  for  at  least 
ten  years.  The  teachers  of  sewing  were  then  poorly 
equipped,  working  without  system,  and  not  well  sup- 
ported, quite  different  in  the  main  from  what  they 
are  now.  Some  of  the  mothers  also  —  not  many,  I 
think — thought  this  new  departure  a  scheme  to 
promote  caste,  and  fix  the  social  status  of  the 
workers.     The    sewins:   machine    had    turned    some 


24  Memorial  Service 

heads.  All  labor  is  soon  to  be  done  by  machinery, 
said  they.  We  will  direct  or  stand  by,  and  see  it 
work.  But,  worse  than  this,  many  of  the  educational 
corps  objected  :  this  is  not  education  ;  the  schools 
were  not  made  for  it  ;  it  will  cause  the  loss  of  time. 
Some  of  the  more  thoughtful  saw  that  better 
things  could  come,  and  said  that  they  should.  They 
knew  that  work,  early  in  life,  had  played  no  small 
part  in  their  own  education ;  that,  according  to 
strength,  with  very  ample  intermission  of  course,  all 
children  are  greatly  educated  and  bettered  by  the 
experience.  Whole  nations  now  see  it.  A  good 
knowledge  of  it  may  bring  a  love  of  it.  "  The  slug- 
gard will  not  plough  by  reason  of  the  cold  ;  there- 
fore shall  he  beg  in  harvest,  and  have  nothing."  Let 
us  see  that  he  is  taught  to  plough,  says  the  philoso- 
phy of  Mrs.  Hemenway,  fortified  by  many  a  Script- 
ure text ;  and  the  ploughing  shall  be  any  human 
labor  that  answers  human  needs,  and  renders  beg- 
gary and  vice  less  probable.  The  thought  here  and 
in  the  last  of  Proverbs  is  not  for  a  far-off  time  only. 
The  working  in  flax  and  wool  can  and  does  have  its 
corresponding  duty ;  but  the  looking  well  to  the 
ways  of  the  household  will  be  a  duty  never  to  be 


Mrs.  Mary  Hcnienway  25 

abandoned  in  any  country  that  is  to  rear  children 
to  self-reliance  and  the  truest  success.  All  this 
truth  was  at  the  very  core  of  the  character  of  Mrs. 
Hemenway,  who  knew  that  it  was  for  all  households 
of  all  generations  ;  that  the  family  unity  is  promoted 
by  duties  performed  by  children  early  in  life;  that  a 
sure  part  of  moral  education  goes  with  it  of  neces- 
sity ;  that  dark  days  are  less  dark  with  and  advance 
in  training,  and  that  hope  for  the  future  has  its 
strongest  seat  in  increasing  efficiency.  But,  in  the 
household  or  out,  the  successful  prosecution  of  any 
department  of  training  requires  good  teaching.  The 
large  sums  of  money  paid  by  Mrs.  Hemenway  for 
good  teaching,  with  the  large  result  achieved, 
showed  what  the  public  school  also  could  do.  A 
new  start  was  made.  Miss  Cummings  was  ap- 
pointed in  the  Winthrop  School  as  sewing  teacher. 
Things  changed.  Mr.  Swan  became  a  strong  advo- 
cate of  the  work,  a  second  right  hand  to  Mrs.  Hem- 
enway, a  vigorous  apostle  for  industrial  training  in 
at  least  two  departments,  through  whom  also  the 
facts  have  gone  across  the  country.  Other  parts 
of  the  city  took  a  start.  Methods  of  retaining  and 
distributing   work,    keeping   the    accounts,    and    re- 


26  Memorial  Service 

porting  to  the  School  Committee,  originated,  I 
think,  in  South  Boston.  Opposition  died.  Converts 
came  in  from  near  and  far.  They  took  notes,  exam- 
ined, asked  questions,  and  went  home  to  imitate 
and  surpass  us  in  method  if  they  could.  Finished 
articles  are  now  numbered  by  the  thousand,  made 
every  year  in  nearly  every  girls'  school. 

Drafting,  cutting,  and  fitting  have  been  added  in 
many  schools,  and  the  kinds  of  work  increased.  All 
this  has  been  accomplished,  from  the  beginning,  in 
forty  years  ;  some  of  the  best  of  it  in  twenty.  What 
is  our  just  tribute  of  praise  to  the  author  of  this  pro- 
nounced success ! 

But  this  is  not  the  end.  Too  much  or  too  little, 
badly  prepared,  or  wasted  in  serving,  is  the  record 
of  many  of  the  human  race  as  to  food.  Too  little, 
surely,  is  the  testimony  of  many  teachers  in  this 
audience,  according  to  the  repeated  observation  of 
the  past  winter.  Too  little  and  the  wrong  kind  fit 
no  children  in  vigor  for  the  responsibilities  that  are 
to  come.  Bread  and  tea  work  up  poorly  into  physi- 
cal size  and  brain  power.  Programmes  go  off  badly 
under  it.  This  is  a  fraction  of  the  answer  why  chil- 
dren are  left  behind.     "  Name  some  one  thins:  that 


Mrs.  Mary  Hememvay  27 

would  enable  your  boys  to  achieve  more  and  build 
up  the  school,"  said  one  man  to  another,  "A  plate 
of  good  soup  and  a  thick  slice  of  bread  after  recess," 
was  the  answer.  "  I  could  get  twice  the  work 
before  twelve.     They  want  new  blood." 

This  side  seems  discouraging.  We  will  look 
further.  Enough  is  spent,  many  times,  when  the 
result  is  poor.  Edward  Atkinson,  the  leading 
Benjamin  Franklin  of  our  time,  has  shown  that 
repeatedly.  We  all  know  it,  and  want  it  remedied. 
Mrs.  Hemenway  knew  it.  She  knew  that  one  cause 
was  ignorance;  that  judicious  buying  and  better 
cooking  would  have  very  important  effects, —  more 
vigorous  children,  less  sickness,  less  drinking, — 
plainly,  more    family  success.     To    see    was    to    do. 

She  caused  the  school  kitchen,  called  "No.  i,"  to 
be  established.  It  was  planned  and  equipped  by 
that  admirable  lady  and  remarkable  executive  ofificer, 
Miss  Amy  Morris  Romans,  another  of  the  right 
hands  of  Mrs.  Hemenway.  This  kitchen  has  been 
extensively  copied  over  the  country.  What  has  al- 
ready been  the  result  in  Boston  alone .''  Six  or 
seven  thousand  girls  have  had  either  a  half  or  a  full 
year's   course   in    cooking.     The    knowledge  of  the 


28  Memorial  Service 

preparation  of  plain  food  has  been  thoroughly  pre- 
sented, thousands  of  dishes  cooked  at  those  schools, 
a  far  greater  number  at  home.  What  to  buy  with 
scant  money  is  now  also  a  part  of  the  much  needed 
and  received  instruction. 

Without  the  knowledge  that  these  girls  have 
gained,  the  past  year  might  have  been  still  more 
severe.  The  good  work  goes  on.  The  School  Com- 
mittee, a  body  thanked  little,  but  worked  hard,  try- 
ing to  make  the  money  at  their  disposal  result  in 
the  completest  service,  is,  like  the  community,  I 
think,  a  convert  to  the  industrial  side  of  education. 
The  immense  labor  of  some  of  them  to  this  end 
would  show  it.  Of  the  past  members,  Mr.  Capen 
and  Mr.  Murphy  would  well  illustrate  that  fact. 
The  successful  beginnings  of  a  part  of  this  training, 
and  the  large  results  over  a  wide  territory,  are  owing 
to  the  clear  vision  and  great  benevolence  of  Mrs. 
Mary  Hemenway. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  heartily  second  the  resolutions. 


ADDRESS 


BY 


GRANVILLE    B.    PUTNAM 

Master  of  the  Franklin  School 


Address  by  Granville  B.  Putnam 


Why  this  gathered  throng  of  teachers  upon  a 
mid-week  afternoon  ?  Why  are  thirteen  hundred 
schoolrooms  silent  and  deserted  ?  Why  has  the 
hum  of  the  educational  machinery  of  the  city 
ceased  ?  This  is  a  memorial  service !  Yes !  But 
in  whose  honor  are  we  assembled  in  this  place 
sacred  with  hallowed  memories  ?  Is  it  some  mili- 
tary chieftain,  whose  name,  "untarnished  on  the 
roll  of  fame,  has  added  lustre  to  a  new  historic 
page"?  Is  it  some  dead  statesman,  whose  words 
swayed  senates  or  whose  will  controlled  the  nation's 
destiny  ?  No !  We,  the  teachers  of  the  public 
schools  of  Boston,  have  assembled  to  pay  our  hum- 
ble tribute  to  a  private  citizen, —  a  woman,  a  noble 
woman.     Her  name  is  Mary. 

"  This  sweetest  name  that  mortals  bear 
Were  best  befitting  her; 
For  she,  to  whom  it  once  was  given, 
Was  half  of  earth  and  half  of  heaven." 


32  Mcmoi'ial  Service 

And,  since  all  titles  seem  but  to  belittle  the  names 
of  great  men  and  women,  shall  we  not  call  her 
simply  Mary  Hemenway  ?  She  possessed  many 
virtues,  which  won  the  respect  and  admiration  of 
friends  and  those  who  were  brought  into  intimate 
relations  with  her.  To  most  of  us,  and  to  the  public 
at  large,  she  was  known  chiefly  by  her  interest  in 
education  and  the  wisdom  which  she  manifested  in 
the  annual  distribution  of  her  large  income.  If  all 
the  facts  were  known,  her  benevolence  would  ap- 
pear even  greater  than  it  now  seems.  Of  late  years 
she  has  trenched  upon  her  invested  resources,  in 
order  that  projects  dear  to  her  heart  might  not 
suffer  for  lack  of  aid. 

Contrasted  with  her  generous  deeds,  how  pitiable 
appears  the  course  of  many  who  have  possessed 
large  wealth !  The  last  will  and  testament  of  a 
woman  recently  filed  in  New  York  decreed  that  the 
sum  of  $1,000,000  be  devoted  to  the  building  of  her 
own  mausoleum ;  and  far  too  many  live  and  strive 
merely  to  pile  thousands  upon  thousands,  or,  it  may 
be,  millions  upon  millions  already  secured,  and  all 
for  selfish  ends.  To  such  is  it  unjust  to  apply  the 
caustic  words  of  Walter  Scott .-' 


Mrs.  Marjf  Hemenway  33 

"  The  wretch,  concentred  all  in  self, 
Living,  shall  forfeit  fair  renown, 
And,  doubly  dying,  shall  go  down 
To  the  vile  dust,  from  whence  he  sprung, 
Unwept,  unhonored,  and  unsung." 

Not  of  such  as  these  was  Mary  Hemenway.  The 
mother  love  of  her  heart  embraced  not  her  own  off- 
spring alone,  but,  broadened  and  extended,  it  in- 
cluded the  child  of  the  poor  white  of  the  Carolinas, 
the  black  man  of  the  cotton  field,  and  the  Indian  of 
the  prairie. 

She  knew  from  daily  experience  the  luxury  which 
comes  from  generous  deeds,  and  felt  a  profound  sym- 
pathy for  those  who  never  tasted  of  its  blessedness. 

Grateful  to  the  teachers  of  the  city  for  their  hearty 
co-operation  in  the  execution  of  her  plans,  she  gra- 
ciously said,  "  Wc  have  done  thus  and  so,"  or  "  Our 
purpose  is,"  etc.,  thus  cordially  recognizing  the 
teachers'  agency  in  the  outworking  of  her  grand 
designs. 

She  poured  forth  her  gifts  in  unfrequented  chan- 
nels. She  was  less  interested  in  those  perpetually 
poor,  feeling  that  there  were  organizations  of  charity 
devoted    to   their   interests.     She  sought  rather   to 


34  Memorial  Service 

find  out  those  who  had  seen  better  days,  but  who 
from  stress  of  circumstances  were  in  temporary 
need  ;  and  to  such  she  loved  to  give,  that  by  so 
doing  she  might  bridge  the  stream  of  adversity,  and 
land  them  safely  on  the  solid  bank  of  prosperity 
beyond. 

She  was  a  zealous  patriot,  and  believing,  with 
Edward  Everett,  that  "education  is  a  better  safe- 
guard of  liberty  than  a  standing  army,"  she  sought 
to  secure  the  best  practical  instruction  to  fit  children 
for  the  common  employments  of  life.  At  the  same 
time  she  used  direct  means  to  instil  into  youthful 
hearts  the  fervor  of  patriotism. 

But  it  is  mine  to  speak,  more  especially,  of  her 
relations  to  the  Boston  Teachers'  Mutual  Benefit 
Association. 

While  it  existed  as  yet  but  in  the  minds  of  a  few 
determined  women,  its  purpose  was  explained  to  her. 
She  entered  heartily  into  its  spirit,  delighted  at  the 
thought  that  at  last  a  plan  was  being  devised  by 
which  provision  would  be  made  for  those  infirm 
through  age  or  disabled  by  service.  In  the  course  of 
conversation,  she  exclaimed,  "  Nothing  is  too  good 
for   the  Boston   teachers."     "Tell  them  to  go   for- 


Mrs.  Ma)-}'  Heinenway  35 

ward  and  form  the  Association,  and  I  will  be  with 
them." 

She  offered  $500  as  a  gift  with  which  to  start  the 
enterprise,  but  was  told  that  it  was  not  money,  but 
patronage,  which  was  then  desired.  Gladly  was  the 
influence  of  her  name  given  as  a  supporter  of  the 
movement. 

When  the  matter  was  brought  before  the  masters, 
and  with  their  hearty  co-operation  the  Association 
was  formed  upon  its  present  basis,  she  proved  a  friend 
indeed.  Not  only  was  the  money,  early  promised, 
forwarded  to  the  Treasurer,  but  other  gifts  followed. 

But  for  her  assured  assistance,  I  am  confident  the 
great  Bazaar,  which  netted  our  treasury  $56,000, 
would  never  have  been  held.  Those  who  consti- 
tuted the  Board  of  Trustees  were  absolutely  adverse 
to  fairs,  even  though  they  saw  the  needs  of  the 
Association  and  longed  for  the  time  when  $60,000 
should  be  secured  for  the  permanent  fund,  so  that 
all  the  income  might  be  applied  to  annuities,  accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  the  constitution.  All  relutance 
to  enter  upon  the  project  was  laid  aside,  however, 
when  from  her  lips  came  the  assurance  that  our 
efforts  would  certainly  be  crowned  with  success. 


36  Memorial  Service 

When  the  time  for  action  came,  she  took  her 
carriage,  day  after  day,  and  went  from  house  to 
house  among  her  friends  to  tell  of  our  plans,  and 
solicit  the  co-operation  of  the  wealth  and  culture  of 
our  city.  Nor  were  her  efforts  vain.  The  best 
names  of  Boston  found  a  place  upon  our  list  of 
patrons  ;  and,  when  the  long-looked-for  5th  of  De- 
cember came  and  the  doors  of  Music  Hall  were 
opened,  the  elite  of  Boston  flocked  to  it,  and  their 
money  was  generously  bestowed. 

The  then  unknown  donors  of  $500,  $1,000,  and 
$5,000  still  remain  unknown  to  the  Trustees  ;  but  I 
doubt  not  that,  directly  or  indirectly,  these  generous 
gifts  may  be  traced  to  the  words  or  deeds  of  our 
most  noble  patron.  Far  more  to  her  than  to  any 
other  person  is  our  phenomenal  success  to  be  as- 
cribed, when  we  consider  the  Bazaar  as  a  whole ;  but 
a  general  interest  in  it  did  not  satisfy  her.  She  vol- 
untarily took  charge  of  the  table  of  "  Comfort  for  the 
Sick."  It  was  furnished  from  her  own  purse.  New 
York  and  other  cities  were  drawn  upon  for  everything 
which  the  ingenuity  of  the  past  decade  has  invented 
to  minister  to  the  needs  of  suffering  humanity. 

Every  afternoon  and  every  evening  of  the  week 


Mrs.  Mary  Hemcmvay  37 

found  her  at  her  post  behind  that  table ;  and,  when 
the  Bazaar  was  closed,  she  purchased,  at  its  full 
value,  all  that  remained  unsold. 

Indebted  as  we  of  the  Association  are  to  her,  let 
us  not  forget  that  this  was  but  a  single  one  of  her 
many  benefactions.  Busy  with  her  plans  for  doing 
good,  unconsciously  she  was  writing  her  name  upon 
the  tablets  of  human  hearts  ;  and  distant  be  the  day 
when  that  name,  honored  and  beloved,  shall  be 
effaced ! 

'*  Margaret  Fuller  Ossoli  was  a  great  being,"  ex- 
claimed a  college  mate  of  mine,  years  ago,  in  the 
opening  sentence  of  an  oration  upon  the  life  and 
character  of  that  remarkable  woman,  the  friend  of 
Emerson  and  Hawthorne  and  Channing.  The 
abruptness  of  the  expression  stamped  it  upon  my 
memory,  while  all  else  in  the  oration  has  long  since 
faded  from  it.  With  like  vividness  would  I  impress 
upon  your  memories  the  thought  that  Mary  Hemen- 
way  was  a  great  being.  I  use  the  expression  ad- 
visedly. 

"Great  minds  alone,  like  Heaven,  are  pleased 
in  doing  good."  True  greatness  cannot  exist  apart 
from  goodness.     It  is  of  the  heart,  first  of  all  ;  and 


38  Memorial  Service 

"he  alone  is  great  who  floods  the  world  with  a  great 
affection."  She  attained  to  this  greatness  because 
she  came  to  feel  that  her  life  belonged  to  humanity, 
and  that  whatever  of  heart  or  money  God  had  be- 
stowed upon  her  had  been  given  that  therewith  she 
might  bless  mankind.  My  mother  was  a  pupil  of 
Mary  Lyon,  that  great  teacher  who  founded  Mt, 
Holyoke  Female  Seminary,  and  planted  the  germ  of 
all  the  female  colleges  of  the  land.  At  that  now 
sainted  mother's  knee  I  learned  to  revere  that  hon- 
ored name.  It  was  a  household  word  in  my  boy- 
hood home. 

In  early  manhood  I  made  a  pilgrimage  to  South 
Hadley  and  stood  beside  her  grave.  There  upon 
the  monumental  stone  I  read  these  words,  which  I 
would  now  address  to  Mary  Hemenway :  — 

"  Servant  of  God,  well  done, 
Rest  from  thy  loved  employ  ! 
The  battle  fought,  the  victory  won, 

Enter  thy  .Master's  joy." 


ADDRESS 


BY 


EDWIN    P.  SEAVER 

Superintendent  of  Schools 


Address  by  Edwin  P.  Seaver 


How  the  Old  South  Meeting-house  was  saved 
from  threatened  destruction  is  a  well-known  story 
that  needs  not  now  to  be  repeated.  Mrs.  Hemen- 
way's  interest  in  that  patriotic  enterprise  did  not 
end  with  her  giving  a  large  share  of  the  purchase 
money.  That  generous  gift  was  but  the  beginning 
of  a  larger  enterprise, —  the  prelude  to  a  nobler 
history. 

These  ancient  walls  had  been  saved.  What 
should  be  done  with  them  .''  They  might  have  been 
allowed  to  stand  as  mute  witnesses  to  the  events  of 
a  glorious  past.  They  might  have  been  used  merely 
as  a  shelter  for  curious  old  relics,  which  antiquarians 
love  to  study  and  passing  visitors  cast  a  glance  upon. 
And  so  the  old  meeting-house  might  have  stood 
many  years  more, —  a  monument  to  religion  and 
freedom,  not  unworthy,  indeed,  of  its  purpose,  but 
yet  a  silent  monument. 


42  Memorial  Service 

The  plans  of  Mrs.  Hemenvvay  were  larger  and 
more  vital.  The  old  building  should  be  not  only  a 
relic  and  monument  of  the  past,  but  a  temple  for 
present  inspiration  and  instruction.  The  thoughts 
and  the  hopes  that  aforetime  had  thrilled  the  hearts 
of  men  assembled  in  this  house  should  live  again  in 
the  words  of  eloquent  teachers.  Here  should  young 
people  gather  to  learn  lessons  of  virtue  and  patriot- 
ism from  the  lives  of  great  men  whose  deeds  have 
glorified  our  nation's  annals.  What  has  now  become 
known  throughout  the  country  as  "  The  Old  South 
Work"  is  the  outgrowth  of  this  fruitful  idea.  Let 
us  briefly  review  the  particulars  of  this  "  Old  South 
Work,"  keeping  in  mind  as  we  do  so  its  main  pur- 
poses, which  are  first  to  interest  young  people  in 
American  history,  and  then,  through  that  interest, 
to  inspire  them  with  a  love  of  their  country,  and  to 
instruct  them  wisely  concerning  the  duties  and  privi- 
leges of  citizenship  under  a  free  government.  Can 
any  instruction  more  vital  to  the  public  good  be 
thought  of  1 

First,  we  may  notice  that  Washington's  Birthday 
has  been  appropriately  celebrated  in  this  house  every 
year  from  1879.     Other  national  holidays  have  been 


Mi's.  Mary  Hcmenzvay  43 

celebrated  likewise,  or  may  hereafter  be  celebrated  ; 
for  the  idea  is  a  growing  one. 

Next  should  be  noticed  "The  Old  South  Lect- 
ures." As  early  as  1879,  '^'^^  i'^  ^^^  ^wo  years  fol- 
lowing, courses  of  lectures  on  topics  of  American 
history  were  delivered  in  this  house  by  Mr.  John 
Fiske,  who  has  since  become  so  well  known  as  a 
brilliant  writer  on  historical  subjects.  That  these 
lectures  would  be  intensely  interesting  to  the  adult 
portion  of  the  audiences  was  naturally  enough  ex- 
pected at  the  time ;  but  it  was  hardly  foreseen  that 
the  young  people  would  be  so  thoroughly  fascinated 
as  they  were  with  a  lecturer  who  had  been  known 
chiefly  as  a  writer  on  deep  philosophical  subjects. 
Mr.  Fiske  has  been  a  frequent  lecturer  on  this  plat- 
form from  1879  down  to  the  present  time. 

In  1883  "The  Old  South  Lectures,"  properly  so 
called,  were  organized  on  a  definite  and  permanent 
plan.  Each  year  the  work  to  be  done  is  laid  out 
in  a  systematic  manner.  A  general  topic  is  chosen, 
and  particular  topics  under  this  are  assigned  to 
different  speakers,  who  are  invited  because  their 
special  knowledge  of  the  topics  assigned  them  gives 
great  interest  or  importance  to  what  they  may  have 


44 


Memoj'ial  Service 


to  say.  The  great  interest  awakened  by  these  lect- 
ures has  led  to  the  repetition  of  many  of  them  in 
other  cities. 

"  The  Old  South  Leaflets  "  are  an  interesting  aux- 
iliary to  the  lectures.  A  practice  was  early  adopted 
of  providing  in  printed  form  the  means  of  further 
studying  the  matters  touched  upon  by  the  lecturer 
of  the  day.  The  leaflets  so  provided  contained  not 
merely  an  outline  of  the  lecture,  but  the  texts  of 
important  historical  documents  not  otherwise  easily 
accessible,  and  references  to  authorities  with  critical 
notes  thereupon,  and  other  interesting  special  matter. 
These  leaflets  have  proved  to  be  so  useful  to  teachers 
in  their  school  work,  that  the  directors  of  "  The  Old 
South  Work"  have  published  a  general  series  of 
them,  which  are  to  be  continued,  and  are  supplied  to 
schools  at  the  bare  cost  of  paper  and  printing. 

Perhaps  "The  Old  South  Essays"  touch  the  Bos- 
ton public  schools  more  immediately  than  does  any 
other  part  of  "The  Old  South  Work."  Every  year, 
beginning  with  1881,  have  been  offered  to  high 
school  pupils  soon  to  become  graduates,  and  also  to 
recent  graduates,  four  prizes,  two  of  forty  and  two 
of  twenty-five  dollars  each,  for  the  best  essays  on 


Mrs.  Mary  Hemcnway  45 

assigned  topics  of  American  history.  The  usual 
objection  to  the  plan  of  encouraging  study  by  the 
offer  of  prizes,  that  many  strive  and  few  win,  so  that 
the  joy  of  victory  in  the  few  is  more  than  offset  by 
the  disappointment  of  failure  in  the  many,  was  met 
in  the  present  case  with  characteristic  wisdom  and 
liberality ;  for  every  writer  of  an  essay  not  winning 
a  money  prize  has  received  a  present  of  valuable 
books  in  recognition  of  his  worthy  effort.  The 
judges  who  make  the  awards  of  prizes  state  that 
crude  essays,  betraying  a  want  of  study  and  care  on 
the  part  of  the  writers,  are  extremely  rare.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  are  often  so  many  essays  of  the 
highest  general  excellence  that  the  task  of  making 
a  just  award  is  a  difficult  one. 

Some  of  these  essays  have  been  printed  in  the 
New  England  Magazine  and  in  other  periodicals. 
Some  have  been  published  in  pamphlet  form,  and 
have  received  the  favorable  notice  of  historical 
scholars.  It  is  now  the  custom  to  invite  at  least 
one  of  the  prize  essayists  each  year  to  deliver  one 
of  "The  Old  Soutli  Lectures." 

Among  the  more  distinguished  of  the  essayists 
may  be  named  Mr.  Henry  L.  Southwick,  a  graduate 


46  Memorial  Service 

of  the  Dorchester  High  School,  whose  prize  essay  of 
the  year  1881,  entitled  "The  Policy  of  the  Early 
Colonists  of  Massachusetts  toward  Quakers  and 
Others  whom  they  regarded  as  Intruders,"  attracted 
much  attention  ;  Mr.  F.  E.  E.  Hamilton,  a  graduate 
of  the  English  High  School,  and  since  an  alumnus  of 
Harvard  College ;  Mr.  Robert  M.  Lovett,  a  graduate 
of  the  Boston  Latin  School,  who  led  his  class  at 
Harvard  College ;  Miss  Caroline  E.  Stecker,  who 
took  prizes  in  two  successive  years  ;  and  Mr.  Leo  R. 
Lewis  of  the  English  High  School,  now  a  professor 
in  Tufts  College.  Others  there  are  who  may  be 
expected  hereafter  to  distinguish  themselves  in  the 
line  of  work  for  which  the  writing  of  their  essays 
was  the  beginning  of  a  preparation. 

The  whole  number  of  Old  South  essayists  is  now 
over  one  hundred.  About  twenty  of  these  have 
been  or  still  are  students  in  colleges,  some  proceed- 
ing thither  in  regular  course  from  the  Latin  schools, 
but  others  in  less  easy  ways,  being  impelled  to  the 
effort  undoubtedly  by  a  desire  for  higher  education 
that  had  grown  out  of  their  historical  studies  for 
their  essays.  But  among  the  essayists  who  have 
not  become  college  students,  the  interest  in  historical 


Mrs.  Mary  Honenway  47 

studies  has  been  no  less  abiding.  The  Old  South 
Historical  Society,  formed  about  two  years  ago,  is 
composed  of  persons  who  have  written  historical 
essays  for  the  Old  South  Prizes,  Quarterly  meet- 
ings are  held  for  the  reading  of  papers  and  for  dis- 
cussion on  historical  subjects.  This  society  may 
well  be  regarded  with  peculiar  interest  by  our 
teachers,  because  it  represents  the  best  historical 
scholarship  of  successive  years  in  the  high  schools 
of  Boston.  It  may  soon  become,  if  it  be  not  already, 
one  of  the  most  important  learned  societies  in  this 
city. 

But  historical  study  and  writing  are  not  for  the 
many,  nor  are  they  enough  to  satisfy  the  few.  A 
broader  influence  may  touch  the  hearts  of  all  through 
music.  Out  of  this  thought  has  grown  the  society 
known  as  "  The  Old  South  Young  People's  Chorus." 

At  many  of  "The  Old  South  Lectures"  there  has 
been  singing  of  national  patriotic  hymns  by  large 
choruses  of  boys  and  girls  from  the  public  schools, 
three  or  four  hundred  often  taking  part.  On  the 
Washington's  Birthday  celebrations  there  has  always 
been  singing  by  the  public  school  children.  These 
interesting  exercises  have  led  to  a  more  permanent 


48  Memorial  Service 

organization  for  the  practice  of  patriotic  music, 
which  flourishes  now  under  the  name  of  "Young 
People's  Chorus." 

Finally,  let  us  note  the  extension  of  "The  Old 
South  Work"  to  other  cities,  as  Providence,  Brook- 
lyn, Philadelphia,  Cleveland,  Indianapolis,  Chicago, 
Madison,  Milwaukee,  and  others.  Everywhere  the 
idea  of  bringing  our  national  history  home  to  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  young  people  through  an  awak- 
ened interest  in  monuments  and  memorials  of  the 
past  has  been  enthusiastically  received.  Philadel- 
phia no  less  than  Boston  has  her  shrines  of  freedom. 
There  is  no  city  or  town  in  the  land  that  does  not 
possess  something  interesting  as  a  memorial  of  past 
events, —  events  which  the  national  historian  may 
regard  as  of  no  more  than  local  importance,  but 
which,  by  the  very  circumstance  of  being  local,  best 
show  the  child  the  stuff  out  of  which  the  fabric  of 
our  national  history  is  woven.  Everywhere,  there- 
fore, the  materials  for  "  The  Old  South  Work  "  are 
at  hand ;  and  the  plan  of  this  work  is  so  simple  that 
it  can  be  adopted  everywhere.  Let  us  hope,  then, 
that  "The  Old  South  Work"  may  spread  all  through 
the  land,  everywhere  yielding  a  rich  fruitage  of  pure 


Mrs.  Mary  Hevicnway  49 

patriotism  and  good  citizenship.  Like  the  Tree  of 
Life  in  the  City  of  God,  may  it  flourish  and  yield 
fruit  every  month  ;  and  may  the  leaves  thereof  be 
"for  the  healins:  of  the  nations  !" 


ADDRESS 


BY 


JAMES    A.   PAGE 

(Master  of  the  Dwighi  School 


Address  by  James  A.  Page 


I  cannot  feel  that  we  come  here  this  afternoon  to 
lament  and  regret  so  much  as  to  appreciate  and  to 
respond,  and  to  gird  up  our  loins  for  work  along  the 
pathways  which  have  been  so  liberally  and  so  dis- 
tinctly blazed  for  us. 

We  know,  none  better  than  we,  that  the  good 
school  is  the  product  of  many  factors.  The  teacher 
himself  is  one  certainly,  but  only  one.  We  see  daily 
and  hourly  in  all  our  classes  the  pale  face  and  the 
unhealthy  complexion,  and  we  hail  the  coming  of  the 
cookijig  school.  We  know  well  enough  what  that 
will  do  for  us  when  it  shall  have  reached  the  lowest 
levels  of  the  public  mind  and  life. 

How  often  we  see  the  dull  eye  and  the  drooping 
head  ;  and  then  we  know  that  the  "cubic  spaces"  in 
the  sleeping-room  and  living-room  at  home  have 
been  ignored ;  and  we  stand  up  in  our  places  to 
salute,  "the  anti-tenement  house  league." 


54  Memorial  Service 

Wc  know  the  alert  mind  in  the  sound  body,  and 
we  render  thanks  for  the  gyvinasium.  Boston  has 
been  grateful  many  times  that  public-spirited  in- 
dividuals have  been  found  within  her  borders.  This 
house  and  this  occasion  are  the  place  and  time  in 
which  to  speak  of  such  as  they. 

Of  the  public-spirited  woman  in  whose  honor  we 
are  met  it  may  be  said,  in  the  language  of  Sydney 
Smith,  that  she  was  three  women,  not  one  woman. 

Practical  as  a  business  man,  she  was  yet  tender 
and  generous  to  many  different  sorts  of  people. 
Expecting  always  faithful  and  loyal  service,  she  was 
considerate  of  those  carrying  forward  her  great 
plans.  She  delighted  to  spend  money,  as  she  was 
spending  it,  for  lofty  purposes.  She  had  strength, — 
the  strength  of  opposite  qualities,  the  strength  that 
fits  for  public  service.  The  city  was  fortunate  that 
at  such  a  time,  or  at  any  time,  such  service  was  to 
be  had. 

The  woman  who  gave  this  service  saw  very  surely 
that  any  institution,  to  be  lasting,  must  be  firmly 
founded  ;  and  her  motto  therefore  in  this,  as  in  other 
things,  was,  "go  slowly."  We  had  had  "systems" 
of  gymnastics  before,  and  they  had  vanished.     We 


Mrs.  Mary  Hemefiway  55 

had  had  "fads"  of  this  kind,  and  they  had  perished 
one  by  one.  The  thing  to  be  done  now  was  to  se- 
cure a  plan  that  should  be  workable,  and  yet  should 
be  based  on  well-ascertained  physiological  and  psy- 
chological data. 

She  gave  her  mind  to  this.  In  1888  the  co-opera- 
tion of  twenty-five  teachers  was  secured,  and  the 
work  was  carried  on  for  a  considerable  time  in  rooms 
at  Boylston  Place.  After  much  experience  had  been 
gained  and  circumstances  had  seemed  to  justify  it, 
larger  rooms  were  obtained  ;  and  in  1889  the  masters 
of  the  schools  were  invited  to  interest  themselves  in 
the  movement  and  to  take  part  in  the  exercises. 
They  responded  to  the  call  without  an  exception,  I 
believe;  and  the  work  took  on  a  wider  scope.  It 
was  in  this  year  also,  1889,  that  the  Conference  on 
Physical  Training  took  place,  under  the  auspices  of 
this  school ;  and  the  advocates  of  many  different 
systems  were  invited  to  take  part,  and  each  to  show 
by  example  and  on  the  stage  the  special  excellences 
of  his  own  school  of  work.  The  German  pupils, 
those  of  the  Christian  Associations,  of  Delsarte,  of 
the  colleges,  of  the  Swedish,  and  of  some  private, 
schools,  took  the  stage  successively,  and  had  ample 


56  Mevwi'ial  Service 

opportunity  to  demonstrate  the  value  of  their  several 
systems.  A  brilliant  reception  was  given  in  the 
evening. 

It  was  determined,  I  think,  at  this  time,  by  a 
very  general  consensus  of  opinion,  that  for  the 
public  schools  of  this  city  as  a  whole,  and  with  all 
their  limitations,  the  Swedish  system  was  the  best 
adapted. 

From  this  time,  convinced  it  was  on  the  right 
track,  the  Boston  Normal  School  of  Gymnastics  has 
continued  a  constantly  growing  power  and  success. 
Under  the  same  firm  but  fostering  hand  as  at  the 
beginning,  it  outgrew  its  quarters  in  Park  Street, 
and  since  1890  has  been  located  in  more  commo- 
dious rooms  at  the  Paine  Memorial  Building.  It 
has  graduated  three  classes,  that  of  1891  consist- 
ing of  twelve  students,  that  of  1892  also  of  twelve, 
and  that  of  1893  consisting  of  forty-three  students, 
and  this  with  a  constantly  advancing  standard  as  to 
conditions  of  admission.  In  addition  to  these  regu- 
lar graduates,  thirty  pupils  have  received  one-year 
certificates ;  and  some  of  them  are  now  doing  good 
work  as  teachers. 

The  school  has  at  its  head  Miss  Amy  Morris  Ho- 


Mrs.  Mary  Heincnway  57 

mans,  and  in  its  staff  such  men  as  Dr.  Enebuske, 
tiie  Professor  of  Philosophy  at  Harvard  University, 
the  Dean  of  the  Harvard  Medical  School,  and  the 
Professor  of  Biology  at  the  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology. 

It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  the  services  of  pupils 
trained  in  such  a  way  should  be  in  demand  in  all 
parts  of  the  country.  Two  have  gone  to  the  Drexel 
Institute  of  Philadelphia ;  two  have  gone  to  Smith 
College,  Northampton ;  two  to  Radcliffe  College, 
Cambridge ;  one  to  Rryn  ]\Iawr,  Pennsylvania ;  four 
to  different  State  normal  schools  in  Massachusetts ; 
one  to  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin  ;  one  to  Denver,  Colo- 
rado ;  one  to  the  Normal  College,  Milledgeville, 
Georgia ;  and  one  each  to  Gloucester,  Lynn,  Law- 
rence, Dedham,  Cambridge,  and  Pawtucket. 

The  aggregate  salaries  paid  to  the  young  ladies  of 
the  three  classes  already  graduated  are  not  less  than 
$50,000,  the  highest  single  salary  reaching  $1,800, 
and  the  average  being  slightly  less  than  $1,000. 

These  statements  give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  work 
of  the  school. —  its  fineness,  its  scope,  its  far-reach- 
ing quality.  But  we  can  see  that  the  bread  cast  on 
the  waters  is  bejrinnins:  to  return.     These  centres 


58  Memorial  Service 

throughout  the  country  are  already  established.  Im- 
agine them,  as  the  years  go  by,  multiplied  a  thou- 
sand-fold, making  a  better  and  happier  because  a 
stronger  people,  and  then  bring  the  threads  back  to 
this  place,  and  connect  them  with  the  deed  of  one 
noble,  public-spirited  woman. 

The  counterpart  of  this  picture  is  the  one  of 
60,000  children  taking  the  Swedish  exercises  daily 
in  our  own  city  schools,  under  the  direction  of 
teachers  acquainted  with  the  system  from  actual 
contact  with  it,  and  under  the  supervision  of  an 
expert  like  Dr.  Hartwell.  Who  that  saw  the  exposi- 
tion of  it  at  the  English  High  School  on  Saturday 
last  can  hesitate  in  his  hearty  God-speed,  or  forget 
the  one  whose  initiative  made  it  all  possible } 

It  is  pleasing  to  think  that  she  saw  some  of  the 
fruits  of  her  work,  some  of  the  coming  events  cast- 
ing their  brightness  before.  Guizot  said  of  Wash- 
ington :  "  In  men  who  are  worthy  of  their  destiny, 
all  weariness,  all  sadness,  though  it  be  warrantable, 
is  weakness.  Their  mission  is  toil ;  their  reward, 
the  success  of  their  works,  but  still  in  toil.  Often- 
times they  die,  bent  under  the  burden,  before  that 
meed  is  vouchsafed  to  them.     Washington  obtained 


Mrs.  Mary  Hememvay  59 

it.  He  deserved  and  tasted  success.  Of  all  great 
men,  he  was  the  most  virtuous  and  the  most  happy. 
God  has,  in  this  u^orld,  no  higher  favors  to  bestow." 

Mrs.  Hemenway  must  have  felt  this  sacred  joy. 
But  there  is  another  joy  hardly  less  sacred,  the  joy 
in  the  very  doing  of  the  work.  "What  a  delightful 
time  I  am  having  with  it  all!"  she  said  to  her  friend  ; 
and  at  the  moment  her  charities  were  flowing  out  in 
channels  wide  as  seas.     And  so  her  work  was  done. 

The  lesson  of  the  hour  is  the  "lofty  deed":  the 
world  is  hungry  for  those  who  will  do  things.  It  is 
the  amount  of  character  that  we  put  into  conduct 
that  tells.  When  Charles  Kingsley  was  asked  to 
write  something  worth  remembering  in  a  young 
girl's  album,  he  wrote, — 

"Be  good,  sweet  maid,  and  let  who  will  be  clever: 
Do  noble  things,  not  dream  them  all  day  long. 
And  so  make  life,  death,  and  that  vast  forever 
One  grand  sweet  song." 

Learning,  money,  personal  quality,  are  nothing  till 
they  express  themselves.  Pestalozzi  taught  us  the 
value  of  the  object  lesson,  clear  impression.  Froebel 
went  farther,  and  insisted  on  expression.     The  child 


(3o  Memorial  Service 

must  do  something,  hence  clay-modelling  and  draw- 
ing.    All  the  poets  and  all  the  educators  agree  in 

this. 

"Battle  nor  song  can  from  oblivion  save, 

But  fame  on  a  white  deed  loves  to  build ; 

From  out  that  cup  of  water  Sidney  gave, 

Not  one  drop  has  been  spilled." 

The  other  lesson  of  the  hour  is  that  of  "  the  pure 
intent."  Two  things  are  necessary  to  the  life  that 
would  become  open  to  the  highest  experience, — 
"the  life  of  the  pure  intent  and  the  life  of  the 
brotherly  act." 

And  it  is  because  the  life  of  our  dear  friend  and 
benefactor  was  lived  out  on  these  lines  that  we  are 
here  this  afternoon.  It  seems  to  me  that  from  now 
on,  and  to  us  teachers,  another  "  Presence  "  is  added 
to  those  who  seem  to  look  down  upon  us  from  these 
sacred  walls,  and  that  always,  when  we  come  in  here, 
she  will  be  one  among  those, — 

"  The  dead  but  sceptred  sovereigns,  who  still  rule 
Our  spirits  from  their  urns." 


ADDRESS 


BY 


LARKIN    DUNTON 

Head  Master  of  the  Bosioti  Normal  School 


Address  by  Larkin  Dunton 


Any  great  philanthropic  enterprise,  to  be  emi- 
nently successful,  needs  to  be  planned  in  wisdom, 
conducted  in  love,  and  sustained  with  money.  The 
ideal  philanthropist  knows  the  weaknesses,  wrongs, 
and  sufferings  of  human  beings.  He  knows  what 
they  suffer  now  and  what  they  will  suffer  in  the 
future;  and  his  prophetic  view  is  just  as  clear  as  his 
direct  vision.  He  knows,  too,  the  possibilities  and 
conditions  of  higher  happiness. 

He  also  knows  the  causes  of  human  misery, 
whether  these  causes  e.xist  in  a  starved  and  sickly 
body,  in  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  health,  in  the  lack 
of  the  means  of  proper  activity,  in  the  inability 
to  do  what  ought  to  be  done,  or  in  bad  habits  of 
physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  action.  He  sees 
with  equal  clearness  the  causes  of  present  suffering 
and  the  influences  which  are  to  bring  suffering  upon 
generations  yet  unborn.     As  he  sees  the  past  in  the 


64  Memorial  Service 

present,  so  he  sees  the  present  in  the  future.  Pain 
and  pleasure  are,  in  his  view,  alike  subject  to  the 
eternal  law  of  causation. 

The  remedies  of  human  ills  are  equally  clear  to 
him.  He  knows  that,  as  pain  never  comes  uncaused, 
so  it  never  disappears  while  the  cause  remains.  He 
sees  that  the  prevention  of  suffering  consists  in  the 
removal  of  the  conditions  that  produce  it,  and  that 
higher  happiness  depends  upon  a  higher  life.  He 
knows  that  these  laws  are  applicable  not  only  to 
individual  men  and  single  moments,  but  to  races, 
and  through  the  ages,  as  well. 

Then,  too,  the  ideal  philanthropist  has  a  kind 
heart.  His  vision  of  human  woe  is  so  clear  that  he 
becomes  a  fellow-sufferer  with  those  in  distress. 
Every  revelation  of  pain  in  others,  whether  it  be 
present  or  prospective,  brings  to  him  a  sympathetic 
pang.  More  than  this,  his  tender  heart  is  melted  in 
love  ;  and  he  is  impelled  to  labor  for  the  relief  of  the 
distressed  and  the  uplifting  of  the  dejected.  He 
sees  the  future  so  clearly  that  he  is  equally  moved 
with  sympathy  and  love  for  those  now  living  and 
those  yet  to  be  born. 

But,  while   wisdom   and  love  are  the    sruide   and 


Mrs.  Mary  Henioiway  65 

inspiration  of  the  ideal  philanthropist,  the  furnishing 
of  ways  and  means  for  his  contest  with  evil  requires 
a  full  purse.  Money  is  needed  for  feeding  the 
hungry  and  clothing  the  naked,  for  strengthening 
the  weak  and  instructing  the  ignorant,  for  opposing 
the  wrong  and  guiding  the  right,  and,  no  less,  for 
creating  the  aspirations  and  means  for  higher  living. 
Though  the  head  be  clear  and  the  heart  be  warm, 
without  money  little  can  be  done. 

If  a  man  has  wisdom  and  money,  but  no  heart,  he 
does  nothing  for  his  fellovv-mcn.  If  his  purse  is  full 
and  his  heart  is  warm,  yet,  if  he  lacks  wisdom  to 
guide  his  efforts,  he  is  as  likely  to  harm  as  to  help. 
But  happy  is  it  for  the  world  when  wisdom,  love, 
and  wealth  are  the  joint  possession  of  one  great  soul. 
They  then  constitute  an  irresistible  force.  Mrs. 
Mary  Hemenway  possessed  them  all  in  largest 
measure.  Let  us  note  briefly  the  comprehensive- 
ness of  view  and  kindness  of  heart  that  are  shown 
in  the  work  of  this  grand  woman. 

She  was  allowed  to  grow  up,  as  she  said,  without 
learning  to  do  things ;  and  she  noticed  that  girls 
who  were  efficient  workers  were  happy.  She  felt 
that  she  had  been  deprived  of  her  birthright.     This 


66  Meviorial  Service 

was  her  first  inspiration  for  teaching  girls  to  sew  ; 
though  she  saw  also  the  effect  of  a  knowledge  of  this 
work  in  their  future  homes  as  well  as  in  helpfulness 
to  their  mothers.  Through  her  efforts  sewing  was 
introduced  into  the  schools  of  Boston.  But  she  was 
too  wise  to  allow  this  branch  of  instruction  to  depend 
upon  the  life  of  any  one  person.  She  began  at  once 
to  interest  the  School  Committee  and  teachers  in  the 
work,  to  the  end  that  it  might  be  incorporated  into 
the  regular  programme  of  the  schools,  be  given  to 
all  the  girls,  and,  more  than  this,  be  made  perpetual 
by  being  put  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  im- 
mortal city.  The  example  of  Boston  has  been  widely 
copied,  so  that  the  influence  of  the  work  thus 
unostentatiously  begun,  but  so  wisely  managed,  has 
extended  and  will  extend  to  millions  of  children  and 
millions  of  homes. 

A  legitimate  result  of  the  introduction  of  this  new 
branch  of  instruction  has  been  the  creation  of  a 
department  of  sewing  in  the  Boston  Normal  School, 
so  that  hereafter  sewing  is  to  be  taught  by  women  as 
able  and  as  well  educated  as  those  who  teach  arithme- 
tic or  language,  and  is,  therefore,  to  take  its  place  as 
an  educational  force  in  the  development  of  our  girls. 


Mrs.  Mary  Hcnicmvay  6y 

Through  various  experiments  in  vacation  schools 
in  summer,  Mrs.  Hemenvvay  came  to  see  that  it 
would  be  possible  to  raise  the  standard  of  cooking  in 
the  homes  of  the  people  by  teaching  the  art  to  the 
children  in  the  public  schools.  This,  she  thought, 
would  not  only  raise  up  a  stronger  race  of  men  and 
women,  but  would  make  their  homes  happier  and 
more  attractive,  and  so  would  lessen  the  temptation 
of  fathers  and  sons  to  spend  their  evenings  at  the 
saloon.  And  thus  good  cooking  came  to  stand  in 
her  mind  as  the  handmaid  of  temperance. 

But  she  was  wise  enough  to  see  that  the  realiza- 
tion of  her  ideal  —  namely,  the  universality  and  per- 
petuity of  good  cooking  —  depended  upon  two  condi- 
tions :  first,  that  the  work  must  be  under  the  care 
and  support  of  an  abiding  power ;  and,  second,  that 
the  instruction  must  be  given  by  competent  teachers. 
Hence  she  set  herself  to  work  to  demonstrate  the 
feasibility  of  the  plan  to  the  school  authorities,  to 
the  end  that  they  would  undertake  it  for  all  the  girls 
of  the  city.  At  the  same  time,  seeing  that  there 
were  no  suitable  teachers  for  this  new  branch  of 
education,  she  established  a  normal  school  of  cook- 
ing, which  she  has  maintained  to  the  present  time. 


68  Memorial  Set'vice 

This  normal  school  has  not  only  supplied  the 
school  kitchens  of  Boston  with  competent  teachers, 
but  has  supplied  other  cities  with  teachers,  so  that 
other  centres  of  like  influence  could  be  created. 
This  institution  has  also  shown  the  authorities  here 
the  necessity  of  training  teachers  for  this  kind  of 
school  work,  and  a  department  of  cooking  has  been 
provided  for  in  the  city  Normal  School.  So  the  con- 
tinuation and  improvement  of  the  work  are  secured. 

When  Mrs.  Hemenway's  attention  was  called  to 
physical  training  as  a  means  of  improving  the  health, 
physique,  and  graceful  bearing  of  the  young,  she  im- 
mediately began  experimenting  with  various  systems 
of  gymnastics  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  which 
was  best  adapted  to  the  needs  of  American  children. 

She  soon  became  so  favorably  impressed  with  the 
Swedish  system  that  she  invited  twenty-five  Boston 
teachers  to  assist  her  in  making  her  experiment  with 
it.  Their  judgment  of  the  result  was  so  favorable 
that  she  made  an  offer  to  the  School  Committee  to 
train  a  hundred  teachers  in  the  system,  on  condition 
that  they  be  allowed  to  use  the  exercises  in  their 
classes  in  case  they  chose  to  do  so.  The  offer  was 
accepted,  and  the  result  proved  a  success. 


Mrs.  Mary  Hcinenii'ay  69 

Mrs.  Hemenway  saw  at  the  outset  that  what  she 
could  do  personally  was  but  a  trifle  compared  to 
what  ought  to  be  done.  So  she  decided  to  start  the 
work  in  such  a  way  that  it  would  become  as  broad 
as  Boston  and  as  lasting.  Hence  she  began  at  once 
to  share  the  responsibility  with  the  city,  and  to  train 
the  teachers  for  the  work. 

She  soon  gained  such  a  broad  view  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  system  that  she  decided  to  make  it 
more  generally  known.  This  led  to  the  great  Con- 
ference on  Physical  Training  in  Boston  in  1889, 
which  did  so  much  to  arouse  an  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject and  to  create  a  demand  for  teachers  specially 
trained  for  the  work.  But  it  was  not  enough  to  cre- 
ate a  demand  for  teachers :  the  demand  must  be 
met.  So  she  established  the  Boston  Normal  School 
of  Gymnastics  for  the  education  and  training  of 
teachers  of  gymnastics. 

Mere  imitators  would  not  do  for  this  work.  She 
believed  the  body  to  be  the  temple  of  God,  and  that 
it  should  be  guarded  and  adorned  by  those  who 
knew  it  so  well  as  to  believe  in  its  possibilities  and 
its  sacredness.  This  school  has  done  much  to 
qualify  the   teachers  of   Boston  for  conducting  the 


70  Manorial  Sej'vice 

Swedish  exercises ;  and  it  has  sent  its  graduates  into 
many  other  cities,  which  in  turn  have  become 
centres  of  inspiration  and  help  along  the  same  line. 
Mrs.  Hemenway  through  this  school  will  improve 
the  physical  power,  health,  and  morality  of  millions 
of  our  children. 

But  she  was  not  satisfied  with  all  this.  She  saw 
that,  to  make  this  work  perpetual  in  Boston,  the 
education  of  teachers  of  gymnastics  must  be  made 
perpetual  :  it  must  not  depend  upon  one  frail  life. 
So  she  furnished  the  best  equipped  teacher  that  she 
could  procure  to  give  instruction  in  the  theory  and 
art  of  gymnastics  in  the  Boston  Normal  School,  till 
a  woman  could  be  educated  for  the  place.  When 
this  was  done  and  the  School  Committee  had  ap- 
pointed a  competent  teacher,  Mrs.  Hemenway's 
influence  was  gradually  withdrawn.  So  that  now 
every  graduate  of  our  Normal  School  goes  out  pre- 
pared to  direct  intelligently  the  work  in  gymnastics  ; 
and  all  is  done  that  human  foresight  could  devise  to 
make  instruction  in  this  subject  perpetual. 

Her  work  in  connection  with  the  Old  South  had 
the  same  general  aim.  It  was  to  improve  the  morals 
of   the    people   by   teaching   patriotism    widely  and 


Mrs.  Mary  Hcincwii'ay  yi 

perpetually.  She  once  said  :  "  I  have  just  given  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  to  save  the  Old  South  ; 
yet  I  care  nothing  for  the  church  or  the  corner  lot. 
But,  if  I  live,  such  teaching  shall  be  done  in  that  old 
building  and  such  an  influence  shall  go  out  from  it 
as  shall  make  the  children  of  future  generations 
love  their  country  so  tenderly  that  there  can  never 
be  another  civil  war  in  this  country."  This  senti- 
ment accounts  for  her  support  of  Old  South  summer 
lectures  and  Old  South  prize  essays  for  the  develop- 
ment of  patriotism  in  the  young. 

Mrs.  Hemenvvay  spent  a  hundred  thousand  dollars 
in  building  up  the  Tileston  Normal  School  in  Wil- 
mington, North  Carolina.  When  asked  why  she 
gave  money  to  support  schools  in  the  South,  she 
replied  :  "  When  my  country  called  for  her  sons  to 
defend  the  flag,  I  had  none  to  give.  Mine  was  but  a 
lad  of  twelve.  I  gave  my  money  as  a  thank-offering 
that  I  was  not  called  to  suffer  as  other  mothers  who 
gave  their  sons  and  lost  them.  I  gave  it  that  the 
children  of  this  generation  might  be  taught  to  love 
the  flag  their  fathers  tore  down." 

Her  great  heart  harbored  no  resentment  to  those 
who  had  sent  suffering  and  sorrow  to  thousands  of 


72  Memorial  Service 

homes.  She  loved  her  country  and  all  its  sons, 
and  gave  her  fortune  that  its  blessings  might  be 
eternal. 

What  a  work  to  accomplish  in  one  short  life ! 
How  could  it  all  be  done  .^  Mrs.  Hemenway  had  a 
profundity  of  wisdom  which  few  people  compre- 
hended, because  she  never  paraded  her  wisdom  or 
her  work.  She  saw  broadly  and  deeply.  She  sought 
remedial  measures.  She  built  for  all  time.  She 
called  about  her  efficient  workers,  and  secured  their 
best  efforts.  She  saw  that  great  results  must  come 
from  the  co-operation  of  large  numbers.  She  en- 
listed the  whole  teaching  force  of  Boston  and  other 
cities  in  her  great  enterprises. 

She  was  a  lover  of  her  kind.  She  gave  full  credit 
to  those  who  worked  with  her.  She  said  and  she 
believed  that  her  co-workers  were  the  more  impor- 
tant factor  in  securing  results.  She  praised  little, 
because  she  believed  in  generosity  and  duty.  She 
worked  not  for  her  personal  glory,  but  for  the  good 
of  humanity.  Her  benevolence  fell  little  short  of 
perfect  disinterestedness.  This  is  what  made  her 
philanthropic  spirit  so  contagious.  What  a  pleasure 
it  was  to  work  with  her!     She  always  put  her  heart 


Mrs.  Mary  Hemenway  73 

where  her  money  went.  She  cheered  every  class  of 
her  fellow-workers  with  her  sympathetic  presence. 

She  was  a  happy  woman.  She  put  herself  so 
perfectly  in  the  place  of  those  she  helped  that  their 
joys  were  her  own. 

Her  life  is  a  living  example  of  what,  under  God, 
the  use  of  a  great  fortune  should  be.  Any  man  of 
talent,  heart,  and  wealth  might  well  aspire  to  imitate 
the  example  of  wise  and  far-reaching  benevolence 
set  by  this  noble  woman. 


ADDRESS 


JOHN    O.    NORRIS 

Head  (Master  of  the  CharUstown  High  School 


Address  by  John  O.  Norris 


The  true  measure  and  estimate  of  a  human  life  is 
the  sum  of  its  beneficent  deeds.  The  best  story  of 
such  a  life  is  the  record  of  those  deeds  from  the  lips 
of  persons  familiar  with  them,  and,  consequently, 
able  to  understand  and  appreciate  them.  That  rec- 
ord you  have  heard  to-day,  respecting  the  life  of  her 
whose  memory  we  are  met  to  honor,  told  with  elo- 
quence, with  fidelity  to  truth,  with  profound  grati- 
tude, with  sincere  admiration  and  affection. 

But  more  eloquent,  far  more  eloquent  than  human 
lips,  is  this  occasion  and  this  place. 

Remarkable,  indeed,  is  this  occasion,  perhaps 
without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  our  city. 

Often  before  has  Boston  paid  honor  to  those  who, 
by  distinguished  services  to  the  city,  state,  or  nation, 
have  made  themselves  dear  to  the  hearts  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  but  to-day  it  has  closed  its  public  schools,  by 
official  direction,  that  its  servants,  the  teachers,  may 


78  Memorial  Sendee 

unite  in  this  service  to  the  memory  of  a  woman 
who,  in  a  most  quiet  and  unostentatious  way,  for 
years  devoted  her  time  and  her  means  to  making  its 
children  and  their  teachers  happier  and  better. 

This  place  also  speaks  to  us.  Hallowed  by  more 
than  a  century  of  divine  worship,  vocal,  almost,  with 
the  echoes  of  purest  patriotism  and  of  most  he- 
roic deeds,  teeming  with  glorious  memories  of  the 
founders  of  our  nation,  it  bids  us  remember  her 
whose  efforts  saved  it  from  destruction,  and  made  it 
an  object  lesson  to  future  generations,  the  home  of 
all  that  is  most  inspiring  to  our  youth. 

It  bids  us  remember  that  here,  initiated  by  her 
patriotic  wisdom,  shall  be  taught  the  noble  lessons 
of  love  of  country,  of  gratitude  to  those  who  made 
and  preserved  the  nation,  of  high  and  devoted 
service  to  the  commonwealth,  of  true,  unselfish 
citizenship. 

Were  this  all,  it  would  entitle  Mrs.  Hemenway  to 
the  gratitude  of  every  lover  of  his  country  ;  but,  great 
and  valuable  as  was  all  this,  it  formed  but  a  small 
part  of  that  for  which  we  hold  her  in  grateful 
remembrance. 

We  must  also  and  always  call  to  mind  what  she 


Mrs.  Mary  Hcmemvay  79 

did  for  public  education  by  broadening  and  develop- 
ing it,  so  that  it  should  touch  more  closely  the  prac- 
tical side  of  life.  As  my  mind  has  turned  to  this 
subject  of  late,  again  and  again,  two  scenes  have 
associated  themselves  in  my  thought. 

The  first  is  purely  the  child  of  the  imagination, 
which  delights  itself  in  picturing  the  birth  of  the 
idea  in  that  noble  mind. 

I  see  a  woman  sitting  by  the  seaside  while  the  sun 
is  setting.  Its  fading  light  falls  on  her  and  about 
her,  and  lends  to  her  face  a  glow  like  "the  light  that 
never  was  on  land  or  sea."  She  looks  out  on  the 
billov/s  beautiful  in  the  coming  twilight ;  but  she 
sees  them  not,  nor  yet  the  solitary  star  in  the  east, 
that  seems  to  look  kindly  on.  Deep  in  thought,  she 
is  oblivious  to  the  beauty  of  the  dying  day. 

An  open  book  is  in  her  lap,  and  her  finger  marks 
lines  that  I  can  plainly  read  :  — 

"  For  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat.  I 
was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink  ;  naked,  and  ye 
clothed  me.  I  was  sick  and  in  prison,  and  ye  vis- 
ited me. 

"  Then  shall  the  righteous  answer.  Lord,  when 
saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  and  fed  thee ;  or  thirsty, 


8o  Memorial  Service 

and  gave  thee  drink ;  or  naked,  and  clothed  thee ;  or 
sick  and  in  prison,  and  visited  thee  ? 

"  And  the  King  shall  answer,  and  say  unto  them. 
Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it 
unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me." 

Thus  it  is,  devoutly  and  deeply  do  I  believe,  that 
the  heavenly  vision  that  came  to  Jesus  comes  to  the 
great  souls  of  all  the  benefactors  of  the  race,  and 
that  spirit  of  ministry  which  he  taught  and  manifested 
finds  a  recognition  and  response  in  their  hearts. 

Blessed  are  those  who,  like  our  friend,  are  "  not 
disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision." 

The  other  scene  is  one  that  we  all  know  and 
remember. 

The  great  Music  Hall  is  in  gala  attire,  arrayed  for 
the  Bazaar  of  the  Teachers'  Benefit  Association. 

The  vast  throng  of  people  fills  every  nook  and 
corner.  From  the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth 
to  the  little  girl  or  boy  of  the  primary  school,  come 
the  helping  hand  and  the  encouraging  word. 

Touched  by  the  magic  of  one  woman,  the  wealth 
and  culture  of  the  city  go  up  thither  to  assist  in 
making  the  effort  a  great  social  and  financial  success. 


Mrs.  Mary  Henietiway  8i 

Up  and  down  the  hall  stretches  the  double  row  of 
booths,  presided  over  by  many  of  Boston's  most  dis- 
tinguished daughters. 

At  one  of  these  sits  this  woman,  whose  influence 
and  leadership  made  it  possible  to  record  the  mag- 
nificent result. 

Day  after  day  finds  her  there  as  many  hours  as 
her  strength  permits,  delighted  with  everything  and 
delightful  to  everybody. 

Her  courage,  her  enthusiasm,  her  confidence  in 
the  sympathy  and  support  of  the  public,  never  waver 
nor  falter. 

From  the  beginning  she  has  insisted  that  the 
net  result  will  be  greater  than  the  most  sanguine 
dare  expect.  From  day  to  day  the  proceeds  swell 
toward  her  estimate ;  and  at  last,  when  the  fulfilment 
of  her  prophecy  and  desire  becomes  certain,  none  of 
those  immediately  and  directly  interested  express 
more  genuine  satisfaction. 

Never,  to  my  eye,  was  presented  a  scene  more 
beautiful  than  that  of  this  woman,  so  near  the  sun- 
set of  life,  looking  back  through  vistas  of  good  deeds, 
grateful  for  present  opportunities  for  service,  and 
trusting  the  future  with  hope  and  confidence. 


82  Memorial  Service 

It  is  fitting  at  this  time  that  some  mention  should 
be  made  of  the  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  that  con- 
tributed to  the  greatness  of  Mrs.  Hemenway. 

First  of  all  must  be  put  great  mental  power  and 
insight,  which  enabled  her  to  make  plans  which 
worked  through  a  long  series  of  events  to  a  given 
result. 

It  is  the  creative  mind  that  builds  everything 
which  contributes  to  human  progress  and  happiness. 

As  the  first  locomotive  existed  complete  in  the 
mind  of  its  builder  before  his  hands  set  about  the 
work  of  construction,  so  the  work  to  be  done  by  this 
building,  and  by  all  the  movements  that  bear  its 
name,  existed  in  the  mind  of  Mrs.  Hemenway  before 
she  drew  the  check  that  secured  it  to  the  uses  for 
which  she  intended  it  ;  and  this  is  but  typical  of  all 
in  which  she  was  engaged. 

No  less  important  were  her  lofty  moral  character 
and  high  moral  ideals.  While  much  of  her  work,  ex- 
ternally, seemed  devoted  only  to  the  physical  well- 
being  of  men,  it  was  always  so  considered  and  so 
presentedjas  to  build  up  in  the  young  a  high  moral 
purpose.  In  all  that  she  did  this  was  a  central 
thought. 


Mrs.  Mary  Hcmcnivay  83 

In  her  mind,  character  was  fundamental,  attain- 
ment was  secondary.  She  believed  that  healthy- 
bodies,  well  fed  and  comfortably  clothed,  were  more 
susceptible  to  moral  influences,  and  less  likely  to 
meet  the  snares  and  pitfalls  of  life  that  immorality 
and  vice  prepare  on  every  hand. 

She  had  rare  discernment  and  insight  in  selecting 
assistants  to  carry  out  the  work  that  she  wished  to 
accomplish  ;  and,  when  once  selected,  she  gave  them 
her  entire  confidence  and  support. 

She  possessed  that  true  greatness  which  does  not 
desire  to  know  the  minute  details  by  which  results 
are  accomplished.  Given  the  results,  she  was  sat- 
isfied. 

These  qualities  made  it  a  pleasure  to  work  with 
her  and  for  her,  and  produced  in  all  those  associ- 
ated with  her  the  same  enthusiasm  and  fidelity  that 
were  so  conspicuous  in  herself.  Her  assistants  were 
made  to  feci  that  they  were  not  employees,  but  part- 
ners. 

At  the  outset  she  recognized  that  the  true  method 
to  improve  the  condition  of  society  is  to  act  on  the 
child  before  habits  and  tastes  are  fixed  in  grooves 
from  which  it  is  difficult  and  almost  impossible  to 


84  Memorial  Service 

move  them.  She  believed  in  prevention  rather  than 
in  reformation. 

When  Horace  Mann  closed  his  last  case  in  court 
before  entering  upon  his  duties  as  first  secretary  of 
the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education,  he  wrote  in 
his  journal,  "Henceforth  my  clients  shall  be  the 
next  generation." 

This  was  the  sentiment  that  guided  and  influenced 
Mrs.  Hemenway. 

She  was  careful,  however,  to  select  such  lines  of 
action  as,  after  a  suitable  trial,  would  prove  to  be  of 
general  utility,  and  to  pursue  them  no  longer  than 
was  necessary  to  convince  the  public  of  this,  and 
thus  secure  their  general  adoption. 

She  looked  upon  the  system  of  public  education 
as  it  was  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  and  said,  "  It 
deals  chiefly  with  the  intellectual  and  moral  nature." 
"Is  it  not  possible  to  add  to  it  subjects  that  will  in 
no  wise  abate  or  abridge  the  results  now  accom- 
plished, but  rather  will  re-enforce  them  by  reaching 
the  intellect  and  the  soul  through  that  temple  of 
God,  the  human  body  .''  " 

"  Is  it  not  possible  that  public  education  should  in- 
clude such  exercises  as  will  give  to  the  next  and  to 


Mrs.  Mary  Hcmetnvay  85 

subsequent  generations  better  bodies,  that  shall  be 
better  fed  and  better  clothed,  and  thus  help  to  cre- 
ate better  conditions  for  the  indwelling  of  good  char- 
acter and  the  building  up  of  better  homes  ?  " 

A  good,  healthy  body,  a  lofty  ideal  of  character, 
and  true  home  life  were  the  educational  ideals  of 
Mrs.  Hemenvvay. 

On  these  lines  she  thought  and  labored.  The 
results,  remarkable  and  beneficial  as  they  are,  are 
not  more  so  than  were  the  mind  and  life  of  her  who 
planned  them,  and  carried  them  forward  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue. 

She  chose  Boston  as  the  principal  field  of  her 
work,  because  it  was  her  home,  because  she  believed 
that,  planted  here,  the  seed-corn  of  new  ideas  would 
spread  wider  and  faster  than  from  any  other  spot, 
and  because  she  found  among  the  masters  of  Bos- 
ton's public  schools  such  hospitality  and  support  as 
were  essential  to  the  perfect  trial  of  her  plans. 

But  not  for  what  she  did  in  the  public  schools 
of  Boston,  alone,  are  hands  now  outstretched  to 
bless  her  memory. 

She  made  possible  the  work  of  the  South  End  In- 
dustrial School,  one  of  the  many  monuments  to  the 


86  Memorial  Service 

philanthropic  genius  of   the    Rev.    Dr.    Hale,  from 
whose  printing  presses  come  our  programmes  to-day. 

Thousands  of  black  men  and  women  in  the  South 
thank  God  for  the  blessings  of  education  bestowed 
by  her  in  schools  that  she  maintained ;  and  on  West- 
ern plains  or  mountain  slopes  the  voices  of  red  men 
tell  with  gratitude,  how  time  and  again,  she  aided 
the  Hampton  School  in  its  time  of  dire  necessity. 

She  wisely  preferred  to  use  the  means  at  her  dis- 
posal during  her  own  life.  She  did  not  endow  great 
institutions.  No  college  bears  her  honored  name  ; 
but  all  over  this  land,  in  humble  homes,  in  the  pub- 
lic schools,  in  great  institutions  of  learning  where 
the  departments  of  education  that  she  created  have 
become  a  part  of  a  liberal  education,  her  name  is 
to-day  honored  ;  and  her  memory  as  a  great  public 
benefactor  will  be  held  sacred  forever. 

But  dearer  to  our  memory  than  great  and  noble 
deeds  is  her  beautiful,  symmetrical  character,  which 
in  honor  preferred  others,  and  put  a  worthy  cause 
above  all  personal  considerations. 

To  us  whose  high  privilege  it  is  also  to  work  for 
the  next  generation,  such  a  character  and  such  an 
example  are  far  above  the  power  of  words. 


Mrs.  Mary  Hemetiway  87 

They  reveal  to  us  anew  the  possibilities  and  op- 
portunities of  our  human  nature,  and  call  upon  us  to 
renew  our  fidelity  and  devotion  to  the  work  remain- 
ing for  us  to  do. 

Thus  does  she  whom  Death  has  taken 

"Join  the  choir  invisible 
Of  those  immortal  dead  who  live  again 
In  minds  made  better  by  their  presence, —  live 
In  pulses  stirred  to  generosity, 
In  deeds  of  daring  rectitude,  in  scorn 
For  miserable  aims  that  end  in  self, 
In  thoughts  sublime,  that  pierce  the  night  like  stars, 
And  with  their  mild  persistence  urge  man's  search 
To  vaster  issues." 

Thus  shall  she 

"  Be  to  other  souls 
The  cup  of  strength, 
Enkindle  generous  ardor,  feed  pure  love, 
Beget  the  smiles  that  have  no  cruelty, 
Be  the  sweet  presence  of  a  good  diffused, 
And  in  diffusion  ever  more  intense. 
So  shall  she  join  the  choir  invisible. 
Whose  music  is  the  jrladness  of  the  world." 


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